


Home Sweet Home

by hubridbunny



Category: Naruto
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, canon noncompliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-03-30
Packaged: 2018-05-29 03:44:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6357562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hubridbunny/pseuds/hubridbunny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mitsuki’s thoughts about his new home, Konohagakure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home Sweet Home

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I haven’t been in the Naruto fandom since like 2007. Fuck the canon, this fic is going off the rails!

Mitsuki’s first thought about Konohagakure is that it’s too bright. There’s not a single cloud in the perfectly blue sky, and he finds himself longing for the ever-present mist of Kirigakure.

His father has always preferred dark, damp places. The same goes for Mitsuki, so he can’t fathom why his father decided to move to Konohagakure of all places.

His father tells him it’s because of something called the “Will of Fire.”

Whatever that is.

Mitsuki’s second thought about Konohagakure is that it’s too hot. His skin dries out in the scorching sunlight and he makes a silent vow to never visit Sunagakure.

It never seems to rain in Konoha, but when Mitsuki wakes up in the mornings there is invariably a fine layer of dew on everything in sight. It shines in the weak sunlight that filters over the horizon when the sun just barely begins to rise.

It’s at that time when his father sits on the veranda and gets a faraway look in his eyes as he sips tea. Mitsuki likes to lie down in the tall grass and feel the cold, wet dirt against his chest as he slithers about and talks to his father’s snake summons.

After tea-and-breakfast, he and his father go into the village proper for that day’s errands, if any. They go early in the morning, before the sun has gained its heat for the day and before there are many other people about.

Not long after they moved, his father started wearing long sleeves to cover his hands, so Mitsuki did too. They have the same tell—a twitch of the fingers—and the cloth is convenient for hiding it.

“Don’t let anyone see your weakness,” his father always tells him. Mitsuki finds it harder to follow those words than he expected it to be.

He notices them, of course—anytime his father has to venture into the village for something, people avert their gazes and give him a wide berth.

“Monster,” they whisper, “Murderer.”

It makes Mitsuki burn with anger and he wants to yell at them, but his father only holds his head higher and continues walking as if he doesn't hear them. As if they’re not all glaring at him as they pass. Mitsuki grips his father’s hand tighter and holds his head higher, too.

It’s no better at the academy. Everyone already has their own groups of friends that they talk to. There’s no room for newcomers.

With nothing else to do, Mitsuki throws himself into his studies.

It’s not long before the slow pace of the class starts to frustrate him. He masters the simple material quickly and turns to learning more advanced techniques on his own.

When Mitsuki learns to summon snakes, his father ruffles his hair with a fond smile. He tells him he’s proud of him and Mitsuki’s face hurts from grinning.

He gets his clan markings that night. His father says that, despite its small size, their clan has always been respected for its power. Now their clan is smaller than ever—only the two of them are left.

But that’s fine. His father is the only person Mitsuki needs.

That night Mitsuki takes twice as long to prepare for bed because he can’t stop staring in the mirror at the new purple markings around his eyes.

He walks to school the next day with his head held high, ignoring the way the civilians’ foolish murmurs follow him all the way to the academy.

“So you’re the monster, huh?”

Mitsuki is a bit surprised when the loud blond boy he’s never talked to—Boruto, was it?—gets in his face during lunchtime and asks it. Boruto looks at him for a long time before shrugging and sitting down next to him.

“You don’t mind sitting next to a monster?” Mitsuki asks. He doesn’t intend for it to come out sounding bitter, but if it does… well.

Boruto shrugs again, pulling out a bento box. It looks like it had been lovingly prepared.

“You’ve got that look about you that says you’re gonna turn out fine,” Boruto grins, “People called my dad a monster too, and now he’s Hokage.”

Boruto waves over a girl with black hair and glasses who introduces herself as Sarada, and the three of them eat lunch together.

… It’s nice.

Mitsuki enjoys Boruto’s energy and Sarada’s honesty, but he’s reluctant to trust them. Even after they’ve graduated from the academy together, he can’t help but poke and prod at them from time to time—to test their loyalty.

And they surprise him every time.

Growing up, Mitsuki’s whole world was just his father and his village. But over time, Mitsuki finds himself thinking he wouldn’t mind if his world could expand to include Boruto and Sarada, too.

Mitsuki’s third thought about Konohagakure is that it might not be so bad after all.


End file.
